Modern data centers leverage large FPGAs to provide low latency, high throughput, and low energy computation. FPGA multi-tenancy is an attractive option to maximize utilization, yet it opens the door to new security threats. In this work, we develop a remote classification pipeline that targets the confidentiality of multi-tenant cloud FPGA environments. We utilize an in-fabric voltage sensor that measures subtle changes in the power distribution network caused by co-located computations. The sensor measurements are given to a classification pipeline that is able to deduce information about co-located applications including the type of computation and its implementation. We study the importance of the trace length and other aspects that affect classification accuracy. Our results show that we can determine if another co-tenant is present with 96% accuracy. We can classify with 98% accuracy whether a power waster circuit is operating. Furthermore, we are able to determine if a cryptographic operation is occuring, differentiate between different cryptographic algorithms (AES and PRESENT) and microarchitectural implementations (Microblaze, ORCA, and PicoRV32).

Modern data centers leverage large FPGAs to provide low latency, high throughput, and low energy computation. FPGA multi-tenancy is an attractive option to maximize utilization, yet it opens the door to unique security threats. In this work, we develop a remote classification pipeline that targets the confidentiality of multi-tenant cloud FPGA environments. We design a unique Dual-Edged voltage fluctuation sensor that measures subtle changes in the power distribution network caused by co-located computations. The sensor measurements are given to a classification pipeline that is able to deduce information about co-located applications including the type of computation and its implementation. We study the importance of the trace length, signal conditioning algorithms, and other aspects that affect classification accuracy. Our results show that we can determine if another co-tenant is present with 96% accuracy. We can classify with 98% accuracy whether a power waster circuit is operating. Furthermore, we are able to determine if a cryptographic operation is occurring, differentiate between different cryptographic algorithms (AES and PRESENT) and microarchitectural implementations (Microblaze, ORCA, and PicoRV32).

Hardware information flow analysis detects security vulnerabilities resulting from unintended design flaws, timing channels, and hardware Trojans. These information flow models are typically generated in a general way, which includes a significant amount of redundancy that is irrelevant to the specified security properties. In this work, we propose a property specific approach for information flow security. We create information flow models tailored to the properties to be verified by performing a property specific search to identify security critical paths. This helps find suspicious signals that require closer inspection and quickly eliminates portions of the design that are free of security violations. Our property specific trimming technique reduces the complexity of the security model; this accelerates security verification and restricts potential security violations to a smaller region which helps quickly pinpoint hardware security vulnerabilities.